Brooding and hen house.



No. 663,9I6. v Patented Dec. I8, 1900.

A., S. A.'&. P. W. MARKWELL.

BROUDING AND HEN HOUSE.

(Application filed Mar. l15, 1900.)

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N0..6s,9|e. V Patented Dee. la, |900. A., s. A. & P. .w. MARKwELL.BROODING AND HEN HOUSE.

(Application filed Mar. 15, 1900.)

(No Model.) 2 sheets-shout 2.

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UNITED STATES trice.

ABEL MARKWELL, SYLVANUS A. MARKWELL, AND PLEASANT W. MARK* WELL, OFWICHITA, KANSAS.

BROODING AND HEN HOUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,916, dated December`18, 1900..

Application tiled March 16, 190Q. Serial No. 8,786. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom, if may concern:

Be it known that we, ABEL MARKWELL,

SYLVANUS A. MARKWELL, and PLEASANT W.

MARKWELL, citizens of the United States, residing at Wichita, in thecounty of Sedgwick and State of Kansas, have inventedv a new and usefulBrooding and HenI-Iouse, of which the followingis a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in brooding and hen houses.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofhen-houses and to provide a simple and comparatively inexpensive oneadapted to be readily arranged to form separate compartments for settinghens and for broods and capable of readily throwing such compartmentsinto a single continuous compartment or space.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed ont in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a brooding and henhouse constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 isa planview,the top ofthe house being removed. Fig. 3 is a longitudinalsectional view. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View. Fig. 5 is adetail view of the lower end of one of the connecting-rods and the frontportion of one of the nests.

Like numerals of reference designate correspon ding parts in all thefigures of the drawings. l

l designates a brooding and hen house provided with a removable bottom2, detachably secured to the sides 3 by means of hooks 4 and su pportedabove the surface of the ground by sills 5 or othersuitable means toprotect the chickens from dampness and vermin. The hooks are pivoted tothe bottom at the side edges thereof and engage suitable projections 6of the sides 3 of the house; but any other suitable fastening devicesmay be employed for detachably connecting the bottom tothe sides or endsl7 and S. The house, which may be constructed of any suitable materialand which may be of any size, is divided by longitudinal partitions, andthe spaces are di- `the house.

`vided by doors 9 into nest-compartments l0 and brooding-compartmentsl1.

The sides 3 of the house are provided at their upper edges with centraltapering extensions and have oppositely-inclined upper and lower edgesfor supporting the roof or top, which is oppositely inclined to shedwater when the house is not under shelter and which is composed of acentral stationary section l2, central hinged shutters 13, and endshutters 14 and 15, located at the front and back of the house andforming solid sections of the top or roof. 'lhe stationary section l2,which is arranged above and in rearof the nest-compartments, is providedwith transparent portions and is adapted to admit light and sunshine tothe interior of the house. This section l2 may be constructed in anysuitable manner and may consist of a continuous frame provided withpanes of glass, or it may be constructed in any other suitable manner.The shutters or sections 13 are connected at their inner edges with thesta tionary section l2 by means of hinges 16 and are adapted to bereadily opened to afford access to the brooding-compartments. The solidend sections or shutters le and l5 are detachably secured in position bymeans of l fastening devices 17, preferably consisting of hooks and eyesand arranged at the ends of The sections or shutters are adapt-ed toafford ready access to the interior of the house for supplying food andwater and for cleaning the compartments and for a variety of otherpurposes incident to poultry culture.

The top or roof is supported at the center bya transverse brace or barl8,mounted upon the longitudinal partitions and arranged at right anglesto the same, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and it is provided with aseries of openings t9 for the purpose ot' ventilation. The house isbraced between the central part 1S and the front and rear ends by meansof intermediate transverse bars 20 and 2l, located adjacent to the inneredges of the end shutters 14E and l5, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3.The spaces between the central bar 18 and the intermediate bars 20 and2l receive removable screens 22 and 23, supported IOO upon the upperedges of the longitudinal par-l Y same time permit a freecirculation ofair and complete ventilation of the house.

The central longitudinal partition is provided at the upper edges of itsend portions with tapering blocks 24 and 25 to support the adjacentinner side edges of the front and rear end seclrions or shutters 14 and15. The inner edges of the end sections or shutters engage under theouter edges of the section 12 and the shutters or sections 13, whichproject beyond the intermediate transverse bars 2O and 21, so that thesaid end sections or shutters 14.and 15 are firmly held in place by theouter fastening devices 17. The central shutters or sections 13 may besecured in their closed positions by any suitable means, such as an eye26, projecting from the transverse bar 21 and adapted to receive a pinor key for engaging the upper 0r outer faces of the sections or shutters13. The ends 7 and 8 are provided with front and rear doors 27 and 28,and the sides3 are provided near their upper edges withVentilating-openings 29 and pivoted cov- .ers 30, arranged to swing overthe openings.

ing of blocks located at opposite sides of `a transverse rod 35, uponwhich all of the nests are removably mounted. The weight-compartment orextension is provided With a removable cover 36, forming a platform andprovided at opposite sides with recesses orV openings 37, through whichthe lower ends of connecting-rods 38 pass, whereby the said rods aredetachably connected with the outer portion of the nest.

, The doors 27, which are hinged at heirupper edges at 39, are providedwith arms 40, which are connected to the upper ends of the rods 38, andwhen the front portion of the nest is depressed by the weight or ballastwhen the hen leaves the nest the door 27 will be automatically opened.As soon as the hen leaves the nest-compartment and steps upon theextension or front portion of the nest its Weight and the weight of theballast operate to open the door, and on returning the weight of the henoperates to close the door as soon as it occupies the nest-compartmentof the nest-box. The ballast may consist of gravel, and it can bereadily proportioned to the Weight of a chicken, so that the door willoperate freely and automatically. By removing the cover of the extensionor weight-compartment of the nest-box the latteris disconnected from therods 38 and may be readily removed from the compartment 10 of the housefor the purpose of cleaning it. The upeeaele' wardly-swinging doors arepreferably constructed of woven wire to afford ventilation andlight/,and pivoted buttons 4l are provided at the bottom of lthe housefor engaging the free lower edges of the doors 27 to lock the same whenclosed.

l The doors 9, which separate the compartments 10 and 1l of the house,are hinged at the bottom at 42 and are provided at the top with suitablefastening devices 43 for retaining them in their closed position. ThesedoorsQ are adapted to be opened after a brood of chickens has beenhatched to afford access to the brooding-compartmentv 11, and

they vmay be left open while the eggs are being hatched to afford accessto the compartments 11, in which the hen may be supplied with food andwater, so that it will be unnecessary for her to leave herhouse. By.retaining ihe hen in the house in this manner the liability of the eggsbecoming chilled and spoiled is reduced to a minimum.

yThe rear doors 28, whichare preferably provided withVentilating-openings, are hinged at the bottom at- 44, as clearly shownin Fig. 3, and they are adapted to be let down toform runways tofacilitate the passage of the brood into and out of the house.

After a brood has been hatched the hen may be separated from the broodfor the purpose ofresetting it or to permit it to lay, and a removablebroeder 45 is arranged within the .broodingcompartment 11 and issupported by horizontal cleats A46, secured to the longitudinalpartitions and to `the walls of the house.` Each brooder consists of aboard 47 anda series of strips of fabric, preferably Woolen goods,arranged as clearly shown in Figs. l3 and 4. The strips are secured tothe lower faceV of the horizontal boardV ,47, and the small chickensare" adapted to nestle under the brooder without liability o f becomingsmothered or otherwise injured. When a hen is with her brood, thebroeder is not employ ed, and, if desired, several broods may be placedin one of the brooding-compartments with a hen. I

The invention has the following advantages: The house is rain and stormproof and can be placed either outdoors or under shelter, and the properlight, Warmth, and ven- `tilation are provided.- The front end doors 14are adapted to be removed for the purpose of examining the nests and forremoving and cleaning them, and they also afford access to the innerdoors 9, so that the same may be closedwhen the nests are employed forthe purpose of laying and opened when hens are setting to permit suchhens to be supplied with fodand Water in the compartment 11. Thestationary section 12 is `pro'vided'vvith transparent portionsorWindows, and the central sections or shutters 13 may be opened toafford light and ventilation and also to permit access to thebrooding-compartments for supplying food and Water and for the purposeof removing and replacing the brooders.

IOO

IIO

The screens are removable, and while they permit free ventilation theyconfine the chickens in their respective compartments. rlhe doors at thefront or the house are operated automatically by the pivotally-mountednests, and the latter are readily removable when it is necessary toclean them, and the weight of the front portion may be varied as may benecessary. The hens cannot be molested when on the nests, and there isno liability of the eggs of a setting hen becoming accidentally brokenfrom such cause.

What is claimed is" l. In a device of the class described, thecombination o' a hen-house provided with front and rear doors and havinga root' composed of sections and adapted to beopened to afford access tothe interior of the herr house, the longitudinal partitions extendingfrom the front to the rear doors andforming passages, the intermediatedoors located between the ends of the passages and arranged to dividethe same into two compartments and hinged at their lower edges to thebottom ofthe hen-house and adapted to be swung downward upon the saidbottom to form continnous passages, and the removable screens supportedupon the partitions, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A device of the class described comprising a hen-house provided withfront and rear doors and having a roof composed of the central sections12 and 13, the section 12 being stationary, and the section 13 beinghinged at its inner edge to the adjacent edge ot the stationary sectionand adapted to open to afford access to the interior'of the hen-house,andthe end sections having their inner edges arranged beneath anddetachably in terlocked with the outer edges of the central sections andprovided at their outer edges with fastening devices, the longitudinalpartitions extending from the front doors to the rear doors, theintermediate doors hinged at their lower edges and arranged to fold downnpon the bottom of the hen-honse, and the removable screens supported bythe partitions, substantially as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have heretoalixed our signatures in the presence of two Witnesses.

ABEL MARKWELL. SYLVANUS A. MARKWELL. PLEASANT W. MARKWELL.

Witnesses:

H. W. LEWIS, I. F. WEST.

